Family Companion VPN is Deactivated by SnapChat on iPhone

[Chinchillas]

I am 88% certain this is what is happening but I am not a software engineer...

I have the latest family companion software installed 127.0.0.1 (5/22/25) that is designed to not be deleted and the VPN cannot be turned off, on my child's iPhone.  I have SnapChat specifically blocked under "filter content" --> "social media." He already had SnapChat installed on his phone, which if you know the App Store, means that he can always download it, even if it has been deleted from his phone. Everytime he would sign into SnapChat and it was blocked under his profile, the VPN profile would immediately be deleted from his phone. As a trial, I unblocked SnapChat under his profile, reinstalled the VPN, then had him log in to SnapChat again. The VPN has been stable ever since. 

After the VPN had been stable for a long time, I tested it by blocking SnapChat again under his profile in the Family Companion. Within two minutes, the VPN had been removed without any interventions from me. This seems like it is some software workaround by SnapChat to avoid being blocked by the VPN and is HIGHLY frustrating to a parent just trying to stay ahead of the technology with her kids. We have gone several days with multiple accusations of removing the VPN of trying to figure out what was happening. It's exhausting. 

[vzw_customer_support]

We definitely want to ensure that our service is working as intended. Were any other changes made before the VPN was turned off? Does the VPN come on automatically if the phone is restarted? 

~Peter

[FrostVortex_88]

I'm running into the same issue — Snapchat seems to disable the Smart Family VPN on my kid's iPhone. It’s frustrating because it basically turns off all the parental controls.

[vzw_customer_support]

Hello and thank you for bringing this concern to our attention. We are here to help. Im sending you a private message in order to troubleshoot your issue.

-Will

[SynthpopAddict · Accepted solution]

The link below is an old thread from the Apple Community, but if you don't want your children to download apps, there is a way to disable app downloads and passcode protect the app store so they can't just go and redownload things.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5800883?sortBy=rank

Using a search engine for "disable downloading apps iphone" will also provide a good deal of information.